Convertible trunk.



Gr. H. WHEARY.

CONVERTIBLE TRUNK.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 5, 1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

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G. H. WHEARY.

CONVERTIBLE TRUNK.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5, 1912.

Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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W/TNESEEE THE NORRIS PETERS CO FHOTOLITHL7.. WASHINGTON. D. C.

G. H. WHEARY.

CONVERTIBLE TRUNK.

APPLIGATION FILED JULY 5, 1912.

1,125,421,, Patented Jan.19,1915.

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, UNITED STATES PATENT cr mson.

GEORGE H. VfI-IEARY, 0F RACINE, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR TO THE HARTMANN TRUNK COMPANY, OF RAGINE, WISCONSIN, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

CONVERTIBLE TRUNK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

Application filed J uly 5, 1912. Serial No. 707,696.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. WHEARY, a citizen of the United States, and resident of Racine, in the county of Racine and State of Wisconsin, have invented new and useful Improvements: in Convertible Trunks,-

of which the following is a description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which are a part of this specification. This invention relates to improvements in convertible trunks.

In wardrobe and other trunks, provided with hat compartments, drawers are often provided which are adapted to be placed within the compartment when it is desired to use the space for other articles than hats, but in traveling it has been found undesirable for the reason that if the drawers are within the trunk at the commencement of a journey, and a hat is procured on the way, the drawers would have to be removed from the compartment to provide space to accommodate the hat, and the drawers would then form separate articles of baggage.

It is one of the objects of this invention to overcome the before mentioned objectionable feature and provide a convertible trunk in which drawers are'so constructed that they may be combined and arranged to form a single compartment particularly adapted to hold ladies hats.

A further object of the invention is to provide a convertible trunk with drawers which may be used in'one form as trunk drawers which may be independently withdrawn to gain access to the contents thereof, and in another form the drawers may be connected together to form a hat case of the size of both drawers combined.

A further object of the invention is to provide a convertible trunk havinga plurality of drawers which may be partly folded and combined to form one case, or may be used independently as single drawers.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists of the improved convertible trunk andits parts and combinations, as set forth in the claims, and all equivalents thereof.

In the drawings in which the same reference characters indicate the same parts in all of the'views: Figure 1 is a perspective" view of a wardrobe trunk provided with the improved convertible feature, the drawers being shown as partly withdrawn from the trunk; Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view, 011 a larger scale, of the upper portion of the trunk, the drawers being shown partly withdrawn from the trunk; Fig. 3 is a similar view thereof with the drawers connected together to form a hat case and with the cover thereof swung to open position; Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view of a modified form of trunk, in which the parts are disconnected to form independent drawers; Fig. 5 is a similar view with the drawers connected together to form a hat case and with the cover thereof swung to open position; Fig. 6 is a detail sectional view, taken 011 line 6-6 of Fig. 5, of the means for locking two of the drawers together; and Fig. 7 is a detail sectional view of a modified form of hat case door.

Referring to the drawings the numeral 10 indicates a convertible wardrobe trunk and 11 the'drawer section thereof which is provided with a compartment 12 to accommodate the improved convertible hat case and drawers 13. The upper drawer 1-1 of the case is supported on angle ways 15 fastened to the side walls of the compartment and when used as a drawer is free to be withdrawn from the compartment. The front wall or door 16 of this drawer is hinged to the bottom portion 17 thereof and is adapted to swing inwardly and rest on said bottom portion when the drawer is 1 I latches 20 which are pivoted to the front wall and swing into the recesses 21 of the side walls of the drawer. The latches 20 also serve to hold the front wall or door when swung inwardly against the bottom portion, and to accomplish this result the rear wall of the drawer is provided with stops 22 beneath which the free ends of the latches are adapted to swing. The lower drawer 18 is also provided with a front wall or door 23 which is hinged to the bottom portion and swings outwardly therefrom. Latches 24, pivoted to the side walls of the drawer, enter recesses 25 formed in the upper portion of the door or front wall and lock the door in upright position. Jointed arms 26 (only one being shown), pivoted to the side walls of the drawer and to the front wall or door 23, limit the downward swing of the door to a horizontal position and provide for the door serving as a shelf and for convenience in removing hats from the case.

-A case door 27, connected to the upper inner edge of the door or the front wall 23 by a hinge or flexible joint 28, is adapted to fold inwardly into the drawer and swing against the inner face of the front wall or door when the receptacle is used as a drawer. A latch bolt 29, carried by the upper portion of the case door, engages a stop 30 provided on the bottom of the drawer and holds said cover in its folded position.

hen the lower drawer is used in connection with the upper drawer the case door 27 is opened and is adapted to be used to cover the open end of the upper drawer when the 7 end of said upper drawer is folded inwardly and the drawer is inverted, as shown in Fig. 3. Hat holders or forms 31 are provided which are adapted to be snapped into holder members 82 of the lower drawer. One of a the holder members is attached to the case door 27 and adjacent to the hinge joint thereof, so that when one of the holders is attached thereto it will extend over the other door. and lock the case door against folding on the lower drawer door or end. The other holder member 32 is attached to the rear wall of the lower drawer so that when its hat holder is snapped in position the hat holder will extend above the lower edge of the inverted upper drawer and prevent the withdrawal of said upper drawer.

independently of the lower drawer.

When in use as a hat case the latch bolt :29 is adapted to enter the bolt recess 33 of the upper drawer and lock the combined case door 27 and the lower drawer door 23 in closed position.

In the convertible case just described the drawers may be used as independent drawers or the upper drawer may be inverted and its front end swung into the drawer and the lower drawer door opened to form a hat case of the capacity of both drawers for holding hats therein.

In the modified form shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 the lower drawer is provided with a single front end or door 34 hinged thereto wliichis adapted to swing inwardly into the said drawer. door, are positioned to swing into recesses 36 of the side walls of the drawer to lock said door in its upright position, and the same latches are also adapted to engage stop members 37 to hold the door when swung inwardly against the bottom portion. The upper drawer 19 of this form is constructed inzthesame manner and is inverted as before described-when used in connection with Latches 35, carried by the the lower-drawer to form a hat case. The

adapted to swing upwardly and close the compartment 12 of the trunk in which the drawers are positioned. This outer door is provided with a bolt 42, for .lockingit in closed position, and the said door and. the lower drawer arealso provided with the hat forms 31 and the holder members 32 before described. This modified form of case is convertible in the same manner as in the first form, with the exception of the outer door. I

The modified form shown in Fig. 7 provides for hinging the door 40 on one side of the. trunk instead of on the shelf. To accomplish this result a double hinge 4-3 is provided to permit said door being swung around; the projecting, flange 4.4; of the trunk 10.

From the foregoing description it will be 7 seen thata convertible trunk of very simple construction is provided in which the trunk drawers may be used assuch or may becombined together to form a hat case.

,What I claim as my inventionis: I

1. A convertible trunk, comprising trunk section having a compartment open on one side, drawers positioned within the compartment and havingopen end portions, one of saiddrawers being invertible to form a single space when combined with the other drawer, means connecting the drawers to gether when one of the drawers is in inverted position, and means covering the open side of the compartment and the open ends of the drawers.

2. A convertible trunk, comprising a trunk section having a compartment open on one side,-'drawers positioned within the compartment and having open end portions, one of said-drawers being invertible to form a single space when combined with theother drawer, a hat form detachably connected to one of the drawers, and positioned to'lock the drawers together when one ofthe drawers is in inverted position, and means coververted position and its hinged end is swung into the drawer.

4:. A convertible trunk, comprising a 'trunk section having a compartment open 7 the drawer is inverted, a lower drawer positioned within the compartment and below the upper drawer and having a hinged end portion which is adapted to swing outwardly, a door hinged to the end portion of the lower drawer and adapted to close the open end portion of the upper drawer when the upper drawer is in inverted position, a hat holder detachably connected to the lower drawer and adapted to extend to a position to lock the upper drawer to the lower drawer, and another hat holder carried by one of the drawers. I

5. Drawers for a convertible trunk, comprising a pair of drawers having open ends and tops, end portions hinged to the drawers for closing the open ends, one of the said drawers adapted to be inverted and to be positioned above the other drawer to form a single compartment between the two drawers, and a door hinged to the upper portion of the hinged end of the lower drawer which is adapted to close the open end of the upper drawer when said upper drawer is in inverted position and its hinged end portion is swung to a non-closing position.

6. A device of the character described, comprising an outer casing, a plurality of compartment forming sections slidably mounted in said outer casing and each having side, end walls and a bottom member; the bottom member of at least one of said sections being adapted to' divide the space inclosed by said plurality of sections into a plurality of compartments in one position of each bottom member, and being movable into position to enable said plurality of sections to form a single undivided compartment, and means adapted to detachably connect the plurality of sections forming such single undivided compartment including a member which, when in locking position, extends between and connects the sections forming such single undivided compartment, so that said sections forming such single undivided compartment may be moved as a unit in said outer casing, and said sections, when said locking member is in nonlocking position, being slidable in said casing independently of each other.

7. A convertible trunk, comprising a trunk section having a compartment, drawers positioned within said compartment and having open tops and front portions, and doors covering the front open portions, the bottom wall of one of the drawers dividing the compartment into a plurality of compartments in one of its positions and forming a single compartment when in another position.

8. A convertible trunk, comprising a trunk section having a compartment, drawers positioned within said compartment and having open tops and front portions, and doors hinged to the drawers and covering the front openings, one of said doors being adapted to close both front openings, the bottom wall of one of the drawers dividing the compartment into a plurality of compartments in one of its positions and forming a single compartment when in another Position.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE H. WHEARY.

Witnesses:

AL. A. BITTER, MAX BLooH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, I). O. 

